DENVER — As season-ending fadeouts go, this one followed a script the Wild wrote, directed and produced for their six-part mini-drama against Colorado.

Early distress followed by some entertaining second-act revenge only to suffer a painful yet predictable fate.

Despite a Northwest Division championship and home-ice advantage, Minnesota's 2007-08 season suffered the same first-round playoff defeat as last year's team.

The Colorado Avalanche prevailed 2-1 Saturday night at Pepsi Center, clinching the best-of-seven quarterfinal series in six games.

After dominating Colorado in every phase of Game 5 only to lose in wrenching 3-2 fashion, the Wild vowed a duplicate effort would produce a different outcome.

But they simply could not match the playmaking sharpness that fueled their game two nights earlier at Xcel, nor could they produce on the power play when needed.

Other than a 10-minute stretch to start the second period, after Aaron Voros tied the score 1-1, the Wild could not beat Avs goalie Jose Theodore. He stopped 199 of 211 shots and clearly was the most valuable player of the series.

"In a series like this, a hot goalie can take you out, and I think that's what happened in this series," the Wild's Brian Rolston said. "It's definitely disappointing, but it wasn't like last year. We felt like we were in this one."

Said Theodore: "When you get a chance to play a lot ... you have the chance to show everybody that you're a goalie that can make a difference.

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The heroic return of defenseman Nick Schultz to a blue line battered by injury and too many tough minutes could not hold the line against the opportunistic Avs, who made the most of their scoring chances.

Colorado scored six power-play goals in the series compared with three for Minnesota, and Ben Guite's short-handed tally in the first period Saturday was the defining goal of the game.

"I felt five on five we were the better team," Wild coach Jacques Lemaire lamented.

The enduring credit line for this series is this oft-repeated yet telling statistic: In 384 minutes, 23 seconds of play through six games, the Wild led for just 4:30.

What is more, the Wild yielded the first goal in all six games (10 consecutive including last year's loss to Anaheim) and wound up losing three consecutive after building a two-games-to-one lead.

"It was two games that we played better than them and didn't come out with the win (Games 1 and 5), and it cost us the series," Wild winger Stephane Veilleux said.

The Wild squandered a chance to reverse that trend and seize momentum after the Avs' David Jones was penalized for crashing into goalie Niklas Backstrom at 6:06.

Their power play was a mess, though. Strong possession, weak puck movement, wayward shooting. Brent Burns misfired an entry pass into Rolston's skates at the blue line. The Avs' Joe Sakic pounced on the puck and launched Guite on a short-handed breakaway, and he beat Backstrom over the glove to send Minnesota reeling.

Sensing doom, perhaps, the Wild recharged and quickly tied the score 36 seconds in the second period.

Voros finished a three-on-two rush with Pavol Demitra and Marian Gaborik, who finally broke through on the scoring sheet, getting an assist for his point of the series.

The goal changed the dynamics briefly. The Wild turned up the forechecking heat and outshot Colorado 10-2 in the first 10 minutes.

But it took only one neutral-zone turnover for Colorado to regain the lead.

Mikko Koivu stole the puck at center ice then lost it to Ryan Smyth, who cycled it deep to Jones. He returned the favor to Smyth streaking into the left circle, and Smyth beat Backstrom to the far side at 12:20.

Much like Game 5 at Xcel, the Wild controlled the play in the second period, outshooting the Avs 15-8. But they were not rewarded beyond Voros' tally, and Minnesota was forced to play catch-up in the third yet again.

"It's tough when you've got to chase," Rolston said.

Any successful playoff team needs its goaltender to steal a game here and there, but Backstrom simply could not match Theodore's brilliance.

Backstrom played well but he was not spectacular, and when the Wild needed him to slam the door in Games 5 and 6, he failed.

And there was Gaborik. No goals. One assist. None of the game-breaking magic he demonstrated in his previous postseasons (12 goals and 23 points in 21 games). And, now, dwindling leverage for negotiating an elite player's long-term contract extension this summer.

"Tough loss, but we have nothing to be ashamed of. Everybody left everything out there," Gaborik said. "Producing and stuff, I wish I would have made a difference. It was very tight out there. They did a great job defensively.

"Either it was tight or there was Theodore ... things didn't work out like I wanted them to."

Gaborik will shoulder the greatest burden but he has company in underachieving detention.

Only seven Wild players scored in the series, compared with 11 for the Avalanche.

Koivu, Rolston and Pierre-Marc Bouchard accounted for more than half of Minnesota's offense in the series. Pavol Demitra (one goal) and Eric Belanger (no goals, one assist since Feb. 26) did not deliver.